


Rule 12

by rootsbeforebranches



Series: Gibbs' Rules [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Ellick, F/M, Rule 12, Rule 3, Rule 51
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 07:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17976809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rootsbeforebranches/pseuds/rootsbeforebranches
Summary: Gibbs finds out about Ellie and Nick's relationship, which makes him reconsider some things.





	Rule 12

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language.

They hadn't meant for Gibbs to find out this way.

They had planned on telling him soon because they were aware that they'd have to someday, but this just completely ruined their plan.

How were they supposed to know that Gibbs would come by their apartments when they hadn't even noticed that he'd tried to call both of them repeatedly, as had McGee.

They were aware that was a violation of rule 3 - never be unreachable- but they hadn't expected for them to get a case, it was Friday night, after all, and they were supposed to have the weekend off.

So yes, they had muted their phones, after having ordered some food.  
They'd been told it would take a while for their food to be delivered, so they had found a way to keep themselves busy until then.  
Since their phones didn't actually ring when Gibbs called, nor when McGee tried to reach them just a minute later, and their phones were laying on the nightstand by Ellie's bed, they hadn't noticed them vibrate.

Or maybe the actual reason rather than the circumstance that their phones were muted was that they had been quite...distracted, that they had been very busy, -first in bed and then in the shower- with something far more enjoyable than working a case late at night.

And even after they came out of the bathroom, done with their joint shower, their bodies only wrapped in towels, their hair still wet and a few droplets of water still on their skin, neither of them had even put one second of thought into taking a look at their phones at that time.

Which Ellie later figured she could at least partly blame on Nick, who came up behind her as she was searching her drawers for something to wear and started placing kisses along her neck and shoulder, taking his time.

He was encouraged in his actions when Ellie immediately leaned into him, her eyes closed, pressing her back against his chest as she let out a small moan, obviously enjoying the feeling of his lips on her skin.

Seeing as it still wasn't time for their food to arrive, both of their towels were soon dropped onto the floor, and needless to say, neither of them got dressed for a while.

It was only half an hour later, -after they were exhausted from their activities and had, therefore, opted to stay in bed for a little longer, Ellie's head on Nick's chest, their legs entangled, one of her hands on his chest, Nick's arm wrapped around Ellie's waist while the other traced patterns on her back- that they finally decide to put some clothes on after all.

Or maybe it was rather the fact that their food was due to be delivered soon, which they only noticed when their peacefulness was interrupted by Ellie's stomach growling, a sound that made Nick chuckle slightly while Ellie looked up at him sheepishly, feeling a bit embarrassed that her stomach, her appetite, had disturbed the moment.

Looking at the clock hanging on Ellie's bedroom wall rather than grabbing his phone, Nick saw that it was time for them to get out of bed.  
''I guess we should probably get dressed now. We wouldn't want you to starve after all because we were still naked and couldn't answer the door,'' Nick jokingly commented as he sat up, causing Ellie to do the same, pulling the sheet up with her to keep her naked torso covered.

Meanwhile, Nick was already putting on his boxer shorts and a tank top, since it was a little bit too chilly in the apartment to be walking around in only his underwear, despite the heating being on.

Ellie stood up as well and took her underwear that had previously been tossed to the floor, as well as one of Nick's shirts and some short and comfortable pyjama pants with her to the bathroom to get dressed too and to fix her hair, which was all disheveled from Nick running his hands through it numerous times earlier.

That's when Nick heard a loud knock on the apartment door.  
Assuming it was the delivery guy bringing their food, Ellie called out to him from the bathroom, asking him to answer the door, so Nick quickly rushed to the door and opened it.

Only to find Gibbs standing in front of him, a shocked expression on said man's face as he caught sight of Nick. In Bishop's apartment. Wearing only a tank top and boxer shorts.

Damn...

''Torres?'' Gibbs' expression had visibly hardened after realizing what this meant, his displeased tone suggested that as well, and it made Nick gulp.

''Gibbs...what are you doing here?'' Nick asked their boss cautiously, obviously not having expected Gibbs on the other side of the door.

''I could ask you the same thing,'' Gibbs simply stated, intently staring at the younger man with narrowed eyes, his brows drawn together into a frown.

''Listen-'' Nick didn't get any more words out, wasn't even sure what he was even about to say, when both men heard footsteps and saw Ellie, who stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she spotted Gibbs in the doorway, though still too late when she was already in Gibbs' line of sight.

With both of their attires, - both of them only lightly dressed, and what is more, Ellie wearing what was obviously Nick's shirt, despite being in her own apartment, their hair still slightly wet from their shower earlier- it was impossible to hide from Gibbs what they had been doing just a short while ago.

His expression told Ellie just that as well.  
Nick also saw Gibbs facial expression darken even more after Ellie appeared, his girlfriend staring at Gibbs in complete shock, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped open.

''Gibbs-'' she started but was interrupted when the delivery guy appeared behind Gibbs, two pizza boxes in his hands.

The boy, who couldn't be older than 20, looked at the three of them, especially Gibbs who was blocking his way, his mouth slightly open.

''I, uh...have a delivery here, for-'' as he spoke, Gibbs gave him his typical Gibbs glare, which obviously unnerved the guy and caused him to stop speaking.  
He visibly gulped, and as Gibbs kept on glaring at him with an icy stare, the boy anxiously said ''I'm just gonna... gonna go now,'' before he slowly retreated, started taking a few steps back before he quickly fled down the hall, taking Ellie and Nick's pizzas with him.

Gibbs turned back to his two agents, who were both looking at him, dumbfounded and at a loss for words.  
''I tried calling you, as did McGee. Neither of you answered your phone.'' Gibbs pointed out, his voice completely emotionless, all matter-of-fact.

After a moment of silence, - the tension in the room thick enough to be cut with a knife- Ellie opened her mouth once again to try to explain somehow.  
''Gibbs, we-''

''No,'' he strictly interrupted her, ''we're not gonna talk about this now. We got a case. I expect the two of you at the crime scene in half an hour. McGee will text you the address.''  
That was all Gibbs said before he left, Nick giving the door a push after he was gone, causing it to close.  
Both of them let out a breath they hadn't even realized they've been holding while Gibbs was there before they looked at each other.

''Well, I guess now the cat is out of the bag,'' Nick remarked needlessly.

_______________________________________________________________________________

They both finally looked at their phones to see a few missed calls from Gibbs and McGee, as well as a message from McGee that he sent just a minute ago. It was the address of their crime scene, so they both got dressed in proper clothes as quickly as they could, not wanting to anger Gibbs any further by taking longer than the time he gave them and then hit the road in Nick's car.

Once they arrived at the crime scene, they quickly went to work as not to give Gibbs another reason to be angry with them.

Their boss didn't say a word to them until they were back in the bullpen, where he ordered them to stay behind with him in the elevator while he told McGee to continue working on the case.

McGee gave all of them a confused look at that but didn't dare question their boss, so he only nodded and exited the elevator to go to his desk.

As soon as the doors had closed again, Gibbs stopped the elevator, thereby dimming the light in the confined space before he turned toward his two agents, giving them an intense stare.

''How long has this thing between the two of you been going on?''  
Ellie and Nick shared a brief look at Gibbs question, before Ellie replied ''About five months'' while keeping her voice as calm as possible, hoping she succeeded in making it sound steady instead of giving away how she really felt at that moment, namely a little intimidated and a bit guilty at having kept their relationship from their boss -who was family, who was kind of like a father to them- for as long as they had.

She knew that when they decided to start dating, she and Nick broke rule 12, they were both aware of that, and they had both decided to ignore it and to keep it from their boss.  
This time, he had every right to be angry with them, because even though it was a Gibbs rule, not an NCIS rule, Ellie and Nick could comprehend why that specific rule existed, knowing that relationships between colleagues -especially members of the same team in their line of work- could end up ruining the whole team dynamic if it didn't work out.  
Besides, rule 12 wasn't just a rule they broke once, they've been breaking it for months and still were, that just had to be bugging Gibbs even more about the situation, that his agents had been breaking his rule for that long behind his back and he wasn't aware of it.

So neither of them was surprised when Gibbs reminded them of the rule that applied here, as they were all standing in the elevator, away from prying eyes or eavesdropping ears.

''Rule 12!'' His voice clearly suggested how upset he was with them- whether it was because of their breaking of said rule or rather because they kept it a secret from him for several months, Ellie and Nick weren't sure.

''We are aware of rule 12, Gibbs,'' Nick stated, doing his best to keep his voice neutral, ''but we didn't mean to break it,'' he then added, trying to explain, but the older man interfered in whatever Nick was going to say.

''Oh you broke more than just that one rule,'' their boss remarked, the anger the man was trying to suppress still very detectable in his voice.

That comment made Ellie and Nick cast their minds back to the missed calls on their phone, indicating that they also broke rule 3.

They've really screwed up and were in trouble, they realized once more.

''Gibbs, I'm-'' Ellie was about to apologize but stopped herself from saying 'I'm sorry' just in time before she broke yet another rule.  
Instead, she sighed and tried a different approach.  
''Okay, look... we didn't want to break rule 12, it wasn't intentional... but we- we've had feelings for each other for a while now and five months ago, we finally admitted to them and then things between us just...happened,'' Ellie tried to make clear.  
However, it wasn't that easy to explain, considering that Ellie couldn't really comprehend it herself.  
Things between Nick and her had happened quite fast, had progressed quickly after the confession of their feelings after a close call at work that day, so for once in her life, her relationship with Nick had been a decision Ellie hadn't thought about, a decision she had not let her head make but her heart.

And she had not once regretted being in a relationship with Nick, and neither had he.  
She was brought out of her thoughts by Gibbs' voice as he spoke to his two agents in a tone of voice that made it plain that there was to be no protest, that he was expecting absolutely no objections.

Taking a step closer to his agents, whose full attention was on their boss, he said ''My rules... they exist for a reason. You're part of my team, you follow them.'' His harsh tone made Ellie gulp a little, and she knew that Nick who was standing beside her, their shoulders touching, was also quite tense due to the situation.

Nick was the first of the couple who managed to find his voice to respond to Gibbs.  
''We won't disregard rule 3 again, Gibbs, really. But rule 12- we can't change the way we feel about one another.''  
Gibbs' eyes narrowed to slits at that, obviously not appreciating what Nick was saying regarding their breaking of rule 12.

Though Nick was proud of himself that he managed to stay as calm as he was. Usually, he was a lot more hotheaded then this, but he knew that right now, a temperamental outburst would get him -them- nowhere, that it would only make things worse.,

Ellie continued for him, adding ''We understand why rule 12 exists, Gibbs. By forbidding relationships between co-workers, especially team members, you want to avoid relationship drama in case we start having problems or end up breaking up. You want to prevent that whatever is going on between agents messes the team dynamic up. And we get that...'' she insisted intensely, staring right into Gibbs' eyes as she spoke.

She wasn't afraid of standing up to Gibbs, she'd proved that before.  
However, Ellie was concerned that he wouldn't accept their reasoning, that he would cling to his opinion.  
And despite Gibbs having allowed her to date a co-worker before, she knew that this time it was different, seeing as she and Nick were both agents, were both on the same team -Gibbs' team- and worked together on a daily basis.

If the trust between them would ever be broken, for whatever reason, it wouldn't just affect how she and Nick work together, it would affect the whole team.

''But Gibbs, that doesn't mean that it will apply to us. We can make this work, even if we would break up one day for some reason,'' she said, then emphasized the next part. ''We want to make this work, Gibbs.''  
She just hoped that Gibbs would let them.

After a few seconds of silence, Gibbs opened his mouth to say something, but that's when his phone chimed, alerting him of a message from McGee regarding the case.

Gibbs regarded the younger agents with a stare once more, before deciding to postpone this conversation for now.

''We'll continue talking about this later. Time to get back to work.''

With that, he started the elevator again, and as soon as the doors opened, he exited the elevator.

________________________________________________________________________________

After a few more hours of trying to solve the case, they called it a day and Gibbs sent them home, telling them to get some sleep and that they'll continue where they left off tomorrow -or actually later since it was already 2 am when they left.

Later that day, when they were all back at work, Gibbs decided to talk to Sloane in private.  
He wanted her advice on the matter, and he knew that she'd be honest with him, whether he liked what she had to say or not.

Her door was open, but he still stopped in the doorway and asked Jack if she had a moment, who then looked up at him and answered in the affirmative. She told him to come in, which he did.  
She took off her reading glasses and averted her eyes from her computer screen, giving Gibbs her undivided attention, who came to stand in front of her desk but remained on his feet, unwilling to sit down.

''What can I help you with?'' she curiously asked.  
''Something regarding your case?''

Gibbs just shook his head.  
''No. It's about Bishop and Torres.''

Jack looked at him in surprise, obviously not having expected that to be the topic he wanted to discuss, but quickly put on a neutral expression.  
She already had a guess why he wanted to talk about his two agents, it wasn't like they were very secretive about their flirting in the office.

But she still didn't anticipate the words that came out of Gibbs' mouth next.  
There hadn't really been any changes in Nick and Ellie's behavior, it had been the same as always, so Gibbs statement came as a surprise to her, apparently just as much as it had been to Gibbs.

''They're an item.'' The words came out like he didn't quite believe them yet himself, as if they seemed too odd to be actually true.

After having recovered from her initial shock, Sloane leaned back against the back of her chair, placing her forearms on her desk as she regarded Gibbs with an impartial expression.

''Okay, well... I didn't know that'' Jack admitted, causing Gibbs to let out a humorless laugh.  
''Yeah, me neither.'' His tone of voice made his displeasure at that very obvious, making Jack wonder why it bothered him so much, so she decided to just ask him.

''And why does that appear to be a bad thing in your opinion?''

''Because they broke rule 12.''

''It's not like this is the first time one of them disregarded one of your rules,'' Jack reminded him, but Gibbs wouldn't have it.  
''No Jack, this is different. They've been breaking it for five months. Behind my back.''

''And that bothers you.'' It was a statement, not a question. Of course it bothered him.

''So what are you gonna do now? Are you gonna forbid them from being together any longer? Make one of them switch teams?'' Jack questioned, or rather challenged him.  
She knew that the second option was highly unlikely since Gibbs' team was great the way it was, and removing one of them from it would only mess up the team dynamic, that was for sure.  
And even if he'd forbid Ellie and Nick from dating any longer, Jack wasn't sure if they would actually listen to that or instead keep whatever the thing between them was going behind Gibbs' back. They had already done that when they started dating, so if they had been willing to break rule 12 a few months back, they probably wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing again, even if Gibbs now knew about it.  
Especially since Jack was convinced that Ellie and Nick were totally in love, that the thing between them, -even if it apparently had only started a few months ago- was serious and would last.

Gibbs slightly shook his head once, obviously a little helpless for a change.  
''I don't know.''  
There was silence for a while, Jack regarding Gibbs with a thoughtful expression until she spoke up again.  
''Is it really impossible for you to discard rule 12? To let Ellie and Nick be happy together? I get why you have those rules, Gibbs. But nothing's carved in stone.''

Gibbs reflected upon that for a few seconds. He'd always thought of his rules as something that kept his team from making mistakes, from getting killed. That's why he has always seen them as unchangeable, as set in stone. Something that he wouldn't ever alter or abolish.

But then he thought back a few months, to when he had indeed tossed rule 10 into the fire, something he had never expected he'd do someday.  
Deciding that since he came to Sloane for her advice, it'd be best to be completely honest with her and thus tell her about that.

''About eight months ago, after we solved the case with the pregnant Navy-recruit, Morgan Burke, that Ziva kept on investigating even after she handed off the case...'' he started, making Jack nod as she recalled the case, how Gibbs had acted.

''I burned rule 10,'' Gibbs finally revealed in a matter-of-fact voice.  
''Bishop was right. She told me that I get personally involved in every case, no matter how long I've had it, and I do. I'd been breaking rule 10 for as long as it existed, yet I lectured Bishop when she did it.''  
What Ziva wrote had also contributed to the burning of that rule. Ellie apparently hadn't been the only one who thought that letting feelings in, even when it involved a case, wasn't a bad thing but rather the opposite.  
But in the end, it had been Ellie who had called him out on his hypocrisy, who gave him the push he'd needed to get rid of rule 10.

Jack seemed a little surprised but nodded nonetheless.  
''Okay, so then why aren't you willing to scrap rule 12 as well?''  
She could already guess the answer, but she wanted him to tell her of his own accord, wanted him to open up to her.

''What if I let them be together and things don't work out between them? I can't take the risk of having bad blood between two of my agents. I need a well-functioning team, agents that trust each other.'' he explained, perhaps in a voice that was a little harsher than intended.

Taking a deep breath to calm down a little, he added something else that had also been on his mind since he found out about Torres and Bishop.  
''But I also don't want them to eventually end up like Tony and Ziva.''

Jack stood up and went toward Gibbs, slightly leaning against her desk, Gibbs less than three feet away from her.  
Placing her hand on his shoulder, she softly told him ''I'm sure they won't. Just give them a chance at happiness. They deserve it.''

________________________________________________________________________________

Thankfully, they solved their case that same day. Turns out, the petty officer actually committed suicide due to gambling debts that he couldn't repay and had seen no other way out of that situation.

Therefore, they were all allowed to go home quite early in the evening after they finished writing their reports.  
Ellie and Nick had been surprised about that at first when Gibbs sent them home, since they hadn't yet continued their conversation, but didn't dare say anything.

When they were at Nick's, they both plopped down on the couch.  
They hadn't really talked much after Gibbs found out about them.  
After Gibbs had sent them home in the middle of the night, they immediately went to sleep, knowing they'd have to get up in a few hours, and while working on the case, they had been too busy the whole time or separated when they needed to leave the Navy Yard to go and talk to some suspect or witness.

''What do you think Gibbs will do now that he knows about us? That we broke rule 12...'' Ellie dryly asked her boyfriend, whose chest she was leaning against, Nick's arms wrapped around her and resting on her stomach.

''Honestly? I have no idea,'' Nick answered genuinely.  
He didn't want to worry her more than he knew she already was, but he also couldn't bring himself to lie to her, seeing as he was concerned about their boss' decision regarding their relationship as well.

''What if he wants one of us gone now? Or worse, fires both of us...'' Ellie anxiously said, and it was clear to Nick that she was starting to overthink this, just as she often did.

Tightening his arms around her a little, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.  
Ellie had other ideas though and instead turned around in his arms, automatically resulting in him slackening his grip.

Now that they were face to face, Nick could clearly see the worry in Ellie's hazel eyes.  
''I don't want us to be separated, Nick. I want us to be together. Both privately and workwise, on the same team. I wanna lose neither.''

''Everything's gonna be fine, Ellie.''  
He needed to believe that, they both did.  
Pulling her closer to him, they shared a sweet, chaste kiss before pulling apart again when one of their phones rang.

Seeing that it was hers, Ellie answered the call, only to hear Gibbs' voice on the other end of the line.  
''Bishop, is Torres with you?''

''Uhh, yeah. I'm at Nick's, actually,'' she answered in the affirmative, a little bit confused, causing Nick to look at her, his brows drawn into a frown.

''Good. My place, in 15 minutes.'' That's all their boss said to her, -or rather ordered- before he ended the call.  
Frowning, Ellie put her cellphone down on the coffee table and informed Nick about what Gibbs had said.

''Well, then I guess we're finally gonna resume that talk...'' Nick figured, making Ellie nod nervously, as both of them got up and took their jackets and his car keys.  
At the end of the day, they would know what their future as a couple and on Gibbs' team was going to be.

________________________________________________________________________________

As soon as they entered Gibbs' house, they found him in the living room.  
He was tending the fire that was burning in the fireplace and immediately told both of them to sit down on the couch, which they reluctantly did but without question, both a little wary of the conversation that was going to take place.

They sat there in silence for a while, until Gibbs opened his mouth and started speaking in a calm voice, still standing near the fireplace.  
''I guess it's unnecessary to say that I wasn't pleased about the two of you dating,'' he stated, earning no reaction from the younger agents, which wasn't really a surprise to Gibbs.  
It was no question anyway but rather a statement, which they were already aware of.

Then he addressed his female agent by saying her name.  
''You told me that rule 10 was bullshit.'' He put extra emphasis on the last word, resulting in Ellie opening her mouth to say something, but he didn't let her and shook his head to tell her he wasn't finished.

''You were right.'' That confession shocked both Ellie and Nick, their jaws dropping a bit as they shared a brief glance, before turning their attention back to Gibbs.  
He didn't usually admit to being wrong.

Then Gibbs went to his bookshelf and opened a cabinet to get out a little dark wooden box that he placed on his TV.  
Opening it, he searched for a specific piece of paper that he then took out of the box before he turned back to his agents, the little piece of paper held in his hand.

''Rule 12. Never date a co-worker.'' He read what was written on the paper to them so that they would be able to understand his next action.

Both Ellie and Nick looked at him, confusion written all over their faces.  
They weren't aware that Gibbs apparently had his rules written down, and what they were especially puzzled about was why he took the rule out of the box...  
They all knew what rule 12 was, so why?

Carefully observing Ellie and Nick's reaction, Gibbs tossed the piece of paper into the fire behind him and watched as it was engulfed in flames and burned.

''Like I said, you were right about rule 10. And maybe the two of you are right when it comes to your relationship as well... About rule 12,'' Gibbs stated, all that was left of the paper now a tiny pile of ash, while Ellie and Nick were at a loss for words, their eyes widened and jaws dropped.  
''We'll make it work.''

That caused Nick to gaze at Ellie, who stared right back at him before Nick looked at Gibbs and cautiously asked ''So...you're saying that we can stay together? On the same team?'' He added the last part after a short pause.

Gibbs actually smirked a little at that and inclined his head.  
''Why do you think I burned rule 12, Torres?!'' he sarcastically asked, making Nick gape for a second as Ellie still looked at their boss with wide eyes, not quite believing his words yet.

''But what made you change your mind? About us? And about rule 12?'' Ellie inquired after a short pause, a frown of confusion and wonderment on her face.

Gibbs tilted his head to the side a bit, a little smirk on his lips.  
''Jack,'' he then stated matter-of-factly.  
After a second of consideration, he added another factor that had made him reconsider.

''And rule 51. Sometimes you're wrong.''

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this turned out a lot longer than I thought it would, but well xD
> 
> And while this one-shot involves more than just one rule, I still named it ''Rule 12'' because that was the most important rule here and that was what the focus was on :)
> 
> By the way, I hope the characters aren't too OOC... xD
> 
>  
> 
> Rule 3: Never be unreachable.  
> Rule 12: Never date a co-worker.  
> Rule 51: Sometimes you're wrong.


End file.
